In order to provide insulation conditions between a semiconductor chip and a chip-mounting member which are bonded to each other via an insulating liquid die-bonding agent or in order to prevent loss of wire bondability to the semiconductor chip after die bonding is completed, it was proposed to use an agent of the aforementioned type that contains at least 5 mass % of insulating grains made in the form of inorganic insulating bodies such as glass, metal nitride, or metal oxide particles having a diameters in the range of 50 to 100 μm (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. (hereinafter referred to as “Kokai”) H7-14859). Alternatively, the aforementioned insulating liquid die-bonding agent can be composed of an organopolysiloxane having in one molecule at least two alkenyl groups, an organopolysiloxane having in one molecule at least two silicon-bonded hydrogen atoms, an organic silicon compound having a silicon-bonded alkoxy group, organic or inorganic spherical filler particles having diameters in the range of 10 to 100 μm and a ratio of the large diameter to the short diameter in the range of 1.0 to 1.5, and a platinum or platinum-type catalyst (see Kokai H7-292343).
In order to provide insulation conditions between a semiconductor chip and a chip-mounting member or in order to prevent loss of wire bondability to the semiconductor chip after die bonding, the aforementioned insulating liquid die bonding agents should contain a relatively hard filler. However, when such an insulating liquid die bonding agent is used for bonding a semiconductor-mounting element to an active face of a semiconductor chip in a face-down-type semiconductor device that is subject to heat cycles, then the active surface of the aforementioned semiconductor chip may be damaged, and reliability of the semiconductor device may be impaired.
On the other hand, known in the art are silicone rubber compositions that contain spherical silicone rubber particles (see Kokai 2000-38510 and Kokai 2003-292781). In both cases, the composition contains conductive metal particles. Such compositions cannot be used in conjunction with wire-bonded semiconductor devices of a face-down type wherein semiconductor-chip-mounting members are bonded to active surfaces of the semiconductor chips.
The inventors herein tried to prepare an insulating die-bonding agent as a conductive silicone rubber composition with spherical silicone rubber particles but without the use of conductive metal particles. However, when such an agent is used in screen printing on the surface of a semiconductor chip mounting member, the silicone rubber composition flows to the peripheral part of the coated area, thus causing contamination of the bonding pad. This, in turn, either impairs wire bonding conditions or traps air on the interface between the semiconductor chip and the die-bonding agent, thus facilitating the formation of voids.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an insulating liquid die-bonding agent for bonding a semiconductor-chip bonding member to an active surface of a semiconductor chip that does not damage the active surface of the semiconductor chip, is well suited for screen printing, is resistant to the formation of voids on the interface between the semiconductor chip and the die-bonding agent, and does not lose its wire-bonding properties. It is another object of the invention to provide a semiconductor device of high reliability.